Total Money Makeover Monday - My Favorite Ramsey Quotes

It's MONDAY...around here it's the Monday of payday week...BUT payday doesn't come till FRIDAY...SO this means we have 5 days till there's more $$$ in our pockets. I for one need a little 

MONEY MAKEOVER MOTIVATION!

There's not much left in our "spending budget" so we need to be mindful of our spending so we don't dip into money that's not meant to be spent - follow me?! To start our week off right I thought I'd turn to our money man,

Dave Ramsey,

for some i n s p i r a t i o n!

These are some of my favorite Ramsey quotes!

"If you will live like no one else,

later you can live like no one else."

"Act your wage."

"We buy things we don't need with money we don't have

to impress people we don't like."

"Pray like it all depends on God,

but work like it all depends on you."

"Broke people giving financial advice is like a shop teacher with missing fingers."

"Success is a pile of failure that you are standing on."

"People resist change much like a 2 year-old resists having his diaper changed. It might be stinky, but it's warm and it's all mine!"

If you want to listen to Dave's radio show today and REALLY get motivated...click HERE. (DO IT!)

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

I made these with Keston last Friday and after posting about our little activity on facebook I got a few messages from friends who wanted my recipe. I think everyone has probably had these at one time or another but obviously not everyone has the luxury of having the recipe among their collection. So I thought I'd share mine here!! 

I love these cookies.

I can remember when I was about 10 or so and my sister would make them allllll the time. My brother and I were her summer "babysitting" job while my parents were at work. We weren't allowed to use the oven while my parents were gone, so that's probably why she made these so often.  These are definitely Andy's all time favorite cookie. They don't last long around here...very few actually make it into a container to keep for later.

And let's be REAL here..."later" is more like after the kids go to bed.

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
2 Cups White Sugar
4 Tbsp Cocoa
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 stick Margarine (not that it matters but I always use Blue Bonnet) 
1/2 Cup Milk
2 3/4 Cup Minute Oats
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix Sugar, Cocoa and Salt in a saucepan (I use a 2 1/2 quart). Add Margarine and milk: bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat. Add Vanilla and Peanut Butter and mix in until creamy. Add Oats and stir until they're coated and mixed in. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Let cool...or chill till firm. (Makes approx 24 Med size cookies)

 

I prefer to let mine cool on the counter with a little cookie monster to keep an eye on them so no one touches them...

except for him, of course!!




I'm linking up to Tasty Tuesday at:

Snip-Snip!

<- Look at that! I was LONG overdue for a haircut!

The last haircut I had was 6 months ago!! EEEKKK!! Can you imagine the damage I had? Well, since I'm not super attached to my hair, I thought about just chopping it all off.  I might wait till summer to do that...but for now I'm keeping it long. Who knows, maybe by summer I'll actually be attached to my hair (for the 1st time in my life)! 

My sweet and talented friend Melissa took great care of me & my locks! She's so wonderful & refreshing to be around. And to top things off she does a really good job! I can't wait to go back soon for some color...kinda thinking about putting some red in my hair...hmmmm....any thoughts?

A Simply Awesome Valentine's Day...and I haven't spent a dime!

Happy Valentine's Day! It's been a different one around here today. We committed to not spend any money on Valentine's Day this year.  This has forced me to put my thinking cap on...or more like turn my thinking cap on! I wear it all the time, but I admit I shut it off sometimes to recharge the batteries...(okay, so maybe that was really weird to share...I don't know where that came from).
Although you won't find me going all out, I did have a few ideas for us to celebrate Valentine's Day...almost all requiring me to BAKE :) Which I LOVE!!

For lunch, I made heart shaped pizza crust for the boys to "decorate," bake & eat for lunch. I served it with PINK lemonade - freshly squeezed...from the lemon juice bottle ;) I'm fortunate to have a husband who comes home everyday for lunch so I made one especially for him. Nothing says, "I love you" like a pizza topped with a heart made out of spinach (seriously though, it was delicious! Ham, onion, banana pepper & spinach...mmmm)

 Caleb & Keston topped theirs with pineapple, ham & cheese - their all time favorite!

 He devoured it BEFORE his salad :) Good till the last bite!

I wrote special love notes on their paper plates. They LOVED that! I didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal but they (Caleb & Keston) were pumped to see the letters of their name AND were able to point out that XOXO meant hugs & kisses. I'll tell ya, these boys melt my heart!

 As usual, Keston picked his toppings off first & then ate his crust...shirtless (I don't let him run around like this, I promise!)

Eli got in on all the fun too. He enjoyed part of my crust :)

And as a special part of our day, Caleb & I were going to make these...

but all day I've been fighting an awful nauseating headache so we'll have to make them for another occasion...sorry buddy.

Click HERE for the recipe on allrecipes.com...

We did get some baking done this morning though. After a breakfast of pink oatmeal Caleb, Keston & I made some LOVE MUFFINS...aka "banana muffins" for their Daddy.  To make them extra special I drizzled them with cream cheese icing & let the boys sprinkle them with red sugar. That way he'd know they were extra special for Valentine's Day!!

And lastly...even though I committed to not spending any money for V-day...my husband apparently didn't...little devil!! *big grin* We spent SO much money last week when we needed to have our van towed because of a flat that came off the rim...so between our AAA upgrade, and two new front tires...well...let's just say we spent enough to throw any Valentine's Day gift ideas out the window...or so I thought anyway. Andy came home for lunch with these beauties!

I am TOTALLY enjoying them too!

Thank you, My Love! Happy Valentine's Day!

If any of you are wondering if I did ANYTHING besides make pizza for Andy for Valentine's Day, I want to let you know that I did make him a valentine...it's not fancy, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be special for him. I also did something that he's been wanting me to do for a lonnnng time. I called & closed my credit card account. I haven't used it for over 2 years but just the fact that the account is open really bothers him...so time to do something for him that he's been waiting for! Dave Ramsey would be proud!!

And Happy Valentine's Day to any of you who take the time to read my blog. I think you're pretty awesome & deserve a big fat XOXO from me!!!

XOXOXOXOXO,

Julie

Flashback Friday...

 Who does this baby look like?

 Look at those ears :)

Okay, so this flashback really isn't my flashback...since I was too young to remember, but it will be a flashback for my mom & dad.  I thought this post would be appropriate since my previous post featured pictures of Eli. We often hear people say that Eli looks so much like Andy. These pictures might change the opinions of some. For SO long I thought he was the spitting image of his daddy, but then when I came across these pictures I was amazed.

I do have flashbacks of the wall decor though...I remember it all! Wow, aren't we all glad that times have changed?! Ewww...

Eli is growing TOO fast!!!

Our sweet little newborn

 3 months

 6 months

9 months

10 months

These pictures are proof that my baby is growing too fast....enough said!

Thirty and Flirty and THRIVING!!

Soooo I turned 30 last week...yep, the big 3-0!!

Surprisingly, I was pretty excited to exit my 20's and enter my 30's. It wasn't depressing for me at all! 

Andy threw me a surprise birthday party last weekend. After several friends had to cancel because of sickness, he got frustrated and leaked a little information...which lead me to leak that I had seen something that I shouldn't have...oops! I saw a message from someone on his facebook page, which at the time I thought was MY facebook page.  All I knew was that there was a party in the works...that's all. So the party didn't end up being a surprise but I was still SO excited and enjoyed every minute with the friends who did come. 

My thoughts on turning 30:

Thirty used to sound so old...but it sure doesn't anymore :)

I don't feel old. (actually, this might be a lie. I did the hardest workout of my life ON my birthday. I'm still in so much pain...I walk like I have artificial legs or like I'm 88 years old and need a knee replacement.)

So many great things have happened in my life before I turned 30. My cup is running over! I LOVE this life that God has given me...His fingerprints are everywhere!

I'm 30 & I'm finally starting to figure myself out...perhaps I'm a slow learner.

I've heard it said that "It's all downhill after 30." If that's the case then I say, "Let's make it a fun ride!"

I think that by 30 you should be allowed to change your birthdate to whatever you want. February birthdays are always snowy & people are always too sick to get together. Maybe I'll just start celebrating my 1/2 birthday...hmmm I might be on to something! 

Some big WINNERS in my book:

My husband - for making my birthday WEEK so special (a surprise party, letting me sleep in on the days that school cancelled b/c of the ridiculous amounts of snow we got, making me a birthday cake with Caleb, taking Caleb & Keston present shopping, the jewelry stamping gift set....he really is so good to me - except for the part where he encouraged me to do the Spartacus workout with him...bad idea...)

My Sister, Michelle - for leaving a surprise in my purse for me to find. It was a certificate for a 1 night stay at a B&B!!

My Daddy - for sending me the best birthday text message :) Your words made me feel so special!!

My friend Ashley - for leaving me the greatest birthday voicemail ever. I won't delete it for a lonnnnng time. It was pretty special!!

How to make your own vanilla extract...

I had NO idea that making your own vanilla extract was this simple...I'm soooo going to make my own from now own! (that is IF it ends up being as easy as it looks!) Wait till I show this to my Gram! She always buys the pure vanilla extract that costs an arm & a leg. (hmmm, I wonder if already knows how to do this...probably...)
I found the instructions from a recent guest post by Pizzazzerie on Tip Junkie.


The post is actually instructions on how to make a "kit" that you could give as a gift. AWESOME, right?! I know a few girls that would really appreciate a gift like that!  DIY: How to Make a Vanilla Extract Kit